God Protects His People in Egypt and the ExodusOLD TESTAMENT 2

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LOWER ELEMENTARY

Preparing the Lesson ___________________Date of Use

The Birth of MosesExodus 1:1–2:10

Lesson 5

Key PointThrough Moses, the Lord saved His people from slav-

ery in Egypt. Through Christ, God saves all people from the bondage of sin and death.

Law/GospelIn this world, I am enslaved by the demands of Satan.

God’s Son, Jesus, was born to set me free from the slav-ery of sin, death, and the devil.

ContextGod declared to Abraham that his descendants would

“be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13).

Since Joseph had saved Egypt from famine, four hundred years of bondage to Egypt proved to be God’s true prophetic Word for His people. The birth of Moses is the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that afterward, Israel would “come out with great posses-sions” (Genesis 15:14).

Commentary“I’m beat!” We all utter this expression from time to time.

It is a simple way to say we are tired, busy, and overwhelmed by the forces of this fallen world and our own sinful flesh. Without relief, we easily become consumed by worry. Our despair at bitter tasks can lead us to unbelief.

Israel was “beat.” By the time of Moses’ birth, the fruition of God’s dire prediction of four hundred years of servitude is evident. God’s promise to Abraham of relief must have seemed small and remote compared with the sore backs and calloused hands that bricks, mortar, and forced labor produced. Pharaoh’s decree to have all of the sons of Israel killed at birth must have left Israel debilitated in their despair.

Into this world of pessimism, God delivers a son from the house of Levi. Through divine guidance, the midwives defy the death command, and the baby floats downriver to become a son of the household of Pharaoh himself. In this child, the Lord has now provided for His people hope of sal-vation from their servitude.

Likewise, God declares, “Out of Egypt I called My Son” (Matthew 2:15). In spite of a similar death sentence from Herod, a Hebrew maidservant delivered the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Under the watchful eyes of this new Miriam, Jesus would sail into the hands of the house of pharaoh, the devil himself, where He would suffer the bitterest toil for us. On His back, He would carry the rigors of our servitude to sin all the way to Golgotha. Our Savior would rescue more than the Hebrews. He would free all nations from the bitter toil of our sins and leave the world “beat.”

In His Word, Christ breathes healing back into our sin-enslaved souls. In His Word, He proclaims to us, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). May we continue to hear the voice of our new and better Moses, the sweet Word of our gentle and lowly Servant, who gives rest for our weary souls.

To hear an in-depth discussion of this Bible account, visit cph.org/podcast and listen to our Seeds of Faith podcast each week.

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Introducing ConceptsTo Prepare: Post the attendance chart (Teacher Tools), provide stickers (Student Pack), and set out the offering basket. Have Lily ready.

Greet your students as they arrive. Introduce yourself to any new students, and make sure that they are introduced to the other children. Ask the students to place their offerings in the basket and mark their attendance. Then gather them in a circle. Take out Lily or another puppet.

Lily enters, panting.

Teacher: Lily, you seem out of breath!

Lily: (Panting) Oh, yeah. Sprout and I just finished playing tag. It was hard because we played without a safe base!

Teacher: Really? What’s a safe base?

Lily: It’s a place where you can rest during the game. When you are there, nobody can tag you. But we didn’t have one, so I had to keep running and running and running. Now I’m really tired!

Teacher: Well, here’s a safe base. You can rest and join us for our lesson.

The Birth of MosesExodus 1:1–2:10

Lesson 5

Connections

Bible WordsGod is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 (CD 5)

Faith Wordrefuge

HymnLord Jesus, Think on Me (LSB 610; CD 1)

CatechismHoly Baptism

1 Opening (10 minutes)

Teacher ToolsPoster GCD

Student PackCraft Page 5Stickers

Other SuppliesActivity Page 5B (TG) DieCloth (optional)

Teacher ToolsPoster EGlue stickBackground BStorytelling Figures

Student PackLesson Leaflet 5Stickers

Other SuppliesBasketResource Page 2 (TG)SongbookActivity Page 5A (TG)

Teacher ToolsAttendance chartCD

Student PackStickers

Other SuppliesOffering basketResource Page 1 (TG)Lily the puppetSongbook

Teacher ToolsCD

Other SuppliesSongbook

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Lesson 5

2 God Speaks (20 minutes)

11, 19

Rituals and RoutinesTo Prepare: If your children gather with others for the Opening, begin teaching with part 2. If you prefer to develop your own opening, a suggested outline follows. For an extended opening, use Resource Page 1.

Gathering Song: “God the Father, Bless Us” (SGL, p. 33; CD 11)Invocation: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.OfferingThe Commandments: Review the First Commandment (CD 19)Prayers

Introducing God’s WordTo Prepare: Set out a basket, a restickable glue stick (available from cph.org), the Faith Words Poster (Poster E), and the Faith Words cards (Resource Page 2) found in the back of the Teacher Guide. This week, cut out the word refuge from the cards.

Set the basket in front of the children.

Ask What kinds of things might we put in a basket? Give the students time to share. Why do we put things in a basket?

Say We may put things in a basket to help keep them safe. When fruit is in a basket, the fruit stays in one place. It doesn’t roll around and become bruised. When toys are in a basket, they won’t get lost or stepped on. Baskets can help to keep things safe.Show the Faith Words Poster (Poster E), and introduce today’s Faith Word.

Say This week’s Faith Word is refuge. Ask one of the children to add the word refuge to the Faith Words Poster.

Lily talked about a safe base. That was a kind of refuge. If they would have played with a safe base, Sprout couldn’t catch her there. A refuge is a place that protects us from danger or trouble. In the story today, God uses a basket as a refuge to protect a baby.Another option is to do a web search for the key word refuge. Look at images

for shelter in a remote location or a wildlife shelter and discuss how they protect.

Telling God’s WordTo Prepare: Set out Table Tent Background B and Storytelling Figures 5-1 through 5-6 (Teacher Tools).

As you place the figures on the background, the children will also act out the story. Have a child who tends to overact during storytelling stand next to you. Your close presence will help that child focus on the story. Before you begin, show the children a Bible. Tell them that today’s story comes from a book in the Bible called Exodus.

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Lesson 5

Key PointThrough Moses, the

Lord saved His people

from slavery in Egypt.

Through Christ, God

saves all people from

the bondage of sin and

death.

Say During the time when the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians, the ruler, Pharaoh, grew worried that there were so many Israelites. He thought that someday the slaves might decide they did not want to be slaves any-more. To keep this from happening, Pharaoh decided that all of the baby boys should be thrown into the Nile River. Children can pretend to have an angry, demanding face like Pharaoh.

At this time in history, Moses was born. His mother loved him very much. For three months, she hid him from the soldiers. When she could hide him no longer, she took bulrushes, plants that grew along the river, and wove them into a basket. She kept the water out of the basket by covering it with a black sticky substance that would keep out water. Then she made a bed for her baby. Children can pretend to weave or paint a basket.

Next, she had to do something that was very hard. She put the baby in the basket and placed it in the Nile River among the reeds by the riverbank. Add Figure 5-2 at the river’s edge. Children can pretend to place a baby in their imaginary basket. This baby had a sister. She stood at a distance to see what would happen. Place Figure 5-3 at the river’s edge. Children pretend to peek through the reeds.

Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to the river. Her servants walked beside the river. Add Figures 5-4 and 5-5. Children walk in place, pretending they are by the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to get it. Add Figure 5-6. What can be in the basket? she wondered. She opened the basket and saw the baby! Remove Figures 5-2, 5-6, and 5-5. Add Figure 5-7. Children pretend to draw the baby out of the water and fold back the blanket.

Pharaoh’s daughter felt sad for the crying baby. She knew about her father’s rule, but she felt sorry for this Israelite baby. Then Miriam, the baby’s sister, came out from hiding. Miriam asked if she should find someone to take care of the baby for Pharaoh’s daughter. Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, and Miriam went to find her mother, the baby’s very own mother, to take care of him. Children pretend to rock a baby.

When the baby grew older, he was brought to Pharaoh’s daughter to live with the Egyptians. Pharaoh’s daughter named him Moses, which means she drew him out of the water.When Moses was an adult, God used him as a leader of the Israelite people. He would lead many, many people from slavery to freedom. God’s Son, Jesus, was also born to set people free. When Jesus was an adult, Jesus saved all people from slavery to sin and death.

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Lesson 5

5

8

Lesson Leaflet ReviewTo Prepare: Hand out Lesson Leaflet 5 and the stickers for this activity (Student Book).

Discuss the illustration on the leaflet cover by answering the questions provided. Continue with the review.

Children will connect each character to the baby Moses in the center. They will then use stickers to number the characters in order of their appearance in the story.

Optional review: Allow the children to retell the story, using the storytelling figures and Background B. When finished, the children can sing a song such as “God Is So Good” (SGL, p. 62; CD 8).

Bible WordsGod is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 (CD 5)To Prepare: Make copies of Activity Page 5A. Have on hand the four stickers that go with Activity Page 5A.

Say The Bible Words are part of a song written long ago. The words tell us that God keeps us safe from sin troubles and temptation troubles. God is a safe place.Say the Bible Words using the cues as a guide. Then pass around a basket. As

each child passes the basket, he or she says, “God is our refuge and strength.” As each child receives the basket, he or she finishes the Bible Words by saying “a very present help in trouble.”

Hand out Activity Page 5A. Children will complete the maze to review the Bible Words for today. They then will add stickers to complete the Bible Words.

Say God kept baby Moses safe in the basket. God keeps us safe in times of trouble as well. When Moses grew up and became an adult, God used him to save God’s people from being slaves to the Egyptians. Through Jesus, God saves all people from being slaves to sin.

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Lesson 5

1, 22

Growing through God’s WordTo Prepare: Set out Poster G (Teacher Tools) and Activity Page 5B (TG). Cut out the safe base cards. You will also need a die.

Say Moses was saved from death by floating in a basket. Pharaoh’s daughter saw him and rescued him. She took Moses into her family. We are saved from sin, death, and the devil by the death and resurrection of Jesus, which are given to us in the waters of Baptism. There, God washed away our sins and makes us members of His Church family.But as God’s children, we are still tempted to sin, aren’t we? It’s as if we are slaves to sin and can’t stop ourselves or get away from its hold on us. Let’s talk about that as we do the following activity. We will think about how Jesus daily frees us from sin and delivers us from temptation.Children will take turns rolling the die. For each number they roll, they will

choose a box on Poster G labeled with that same number to discuss. If they roll a six, they may choose any box they wish. As each box is chosen, talk with the children about why these temptations might be difficult to resist. Talk about how often we give in to temptations. After discussing each box in turn, children will pick up a safe base card and place it on top of the picture. After each play, repeat the following Gospel message.

Say Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, He has freed us from sin and delivered us from temptation. Each day, your sins are washed away and no longer have a hold on you.When the game is over, continue.

Say After he was lifted out of the water by the princess, Moses became part of the royal family. That is true for you too. Through the waters of Baptism, you are part of God’s family. You are children of the heavenly Father and members of His family, the Church.

Sing “Lord Jesus, Think on Me” (LSB 610; CD 1) or “Holy Baptism – Part 2” (CD 22)

Craft PageTo Prepare: Use Craft Page 5 (Student Book) and the Bible Words sticker (Sticker Page), along with scissors or tape and glue.

Cut out the baby, the blanket, and the square to make the basket. To make the basket, cut along the diagonal lines of the larger square. After cutting, fold the corner flaps of the large square over each other. Glue or tape down the flaps, making a basket. Place the baby in the basket. The small square will be a blanket. Add the Bible Words sticker wherever desired.

While the children are working, play the CD.

Optional: Use small pieces of fabric for the blanket.

3 We Live (20 minutes)

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Lesson 5

4 Closing (5 minutes)

10, 5

To Prepare: Use the CD. Gather materials to send home.Gather the children for the Closing. Follow the same routine each week.

Say God saved Moses while he was in a basket in the water, and later God used him to save many others.

Sing “God Loves Me Dearly” (LOSP, page 85; CD 10) or “Children of the Heavenly Father” (SGL, p. 62)

Say God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1; CD 5).

Pray Dear God, thank You for being my refuge from sin, death, and the devil. Be my help in trouble and my strength in temptation. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.As the children leave,

Say Jesus saves you through the waters of Baptism.Challenge The princess took a child that wasn’t her own into her home. Explain

the concept of foster homes. Encourage the children to pray for foster families this week, asking God to bless the relationship between parent(s) and child(ren) with patience, love, and acceptance.

Reflect Are you comfortable letting children chat as they work? Learning becomes more solid as children talk through what they have just been taught.

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50 Activity Page 5A Teacher: This page is also available on the CD in your Teacher Tools. Growing in Christ® Lower Elementary © 2007 Concordia Publishing House. Reproduced by permission.

Complete each maze to find the letters of a special word from today’s Bible Words. Then add stickers to complete the Bible Words.

Sticker

Sticker

Sticker

Sticker

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51Activity Page 5B. Teacher: This page is also available on the CD in your Teacher Tools. Growing in Christ® Lower Elementary © 2007 Concordia Publishing House. Reproduced by permission.

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